Tag Archives: CV

View from the other side – CVs

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coffee and skyThere is probably a little bit of irony given that this blog documents my search for a non-executive director portfolio, that many of the coffees I have had since the last post have been to recruit new directors rather than to be recruited myself.

One of the tasks that I have as the new chairman is to ensure that the two vacancies that will now be on our board with the retirement of past directors are filled. A review of the skills of the existing board members together with an understanding of directors’ future intentions have led us to seek to not only fill the existing vacancies but, to use a sporting analogy, develop a “bench” of potential future directors. Being a board made up of volunteers, we need to be as efficient as possible.

We were blessed with responses from quite a number of skilled and experienced applicants and as I sat and reviewed their covering letters and accompanying emails, I had a moment of clarity. A number of times over the past couple of years the advice I have received has been to ensure my CV expresses the value I can bring to a board (see Stalking vs keeping in touch and Morphing executive to non-executive). As I read through these CVs they all told me of the wonderful things they had achieved in their executive roles, the projects and people they had managed and what they had been or been doing for the past 15-30 years.

There was only one CV that addressed the skills that we might be looking for together with their experience. I found myself thinking “Yes, but what will you bring to the board?” or “What value do you add?” I could suddenly understand the perspective of people who have to read multiple CVs. It’s tough enough, but to have to distil for oneself the value someone might bring to the board rather than them spelling it out for me, made the process of reviewing the CVs much more laborious. And given that some CVs stretched to six pages and beyond – it really was work.

It is something I have tried to do before and as simple as it sounds, it’s not that simple, especially for someone who hasn’t sat on a board. Understanding how one’s skills might be utilised around a board table or in a board sub-committee is not easy to imagine if one hasn’t had the experience. Nevertheless, I think it is possible, it just requires a bit of effort and imagination, applying experience from working in meetings in other situations.

So I’m going back to review my CV again. I’ll be ensuring it stays at 1-2 pages and is easy for the reader to know what value and skills I can bring to their board.

Coffee count: 304

Benefits of career breaks – what women learn when they’re not “working”

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cinnamon hot chocVery often when a woman writes her CV, there are gaps of some description, the so-called “career break”.  These breaks most often are as a result of taking a break to have children, or to be at home for a period while the children are young.  Increasingly, such breaks are also as a result of women taking care of an elderly or sick relative.  Sometimes they are because a woman has worked all her life and decided that it is time to take stock or to spend time with older children before they leave home completely.  Such career breaks are (very slowly) starting to appear on some men’s CVs as well – usually for the same reasons.

It seems that such career breaks usually have to be accompanied by an explanation, almost an apology.  They almost always come with the assurance that the person is still capable and hasn’t lost any skills in the process.  I think it’s time to turn that view on its head and look at the benefits of a career break and what positive things a career break say about a person.  After all, if you were smart before you took a career break, having a baby or being a carer or stopping to review your career doesn’t make you any less smart.

There is, of course, the chance that if you worked in the financial markets where new derivative based products are developed every day, that you might have missed the extra bell or whistle that has been added while you were sitting out of the market for the past six months.  But really, there are very few roles where the details can’t be filled in again – even in rocket science and brain surgery!

But what about all the other skills that are developed while the person is not “working”.  Any person who has had a career break will tell you that being at home juggling the kids, the washing, the shopping and the other parents at school or in the canteen or uniform shop needs a whole new set of skills.  The same is true for those who have to deal with doctors, nurses, hospitals and other health support services.  It might be a change, but it’s certainly not a holiday.  Not only are you flat-out busy, you’re not paid and often not appreciated much either.  On top of it, if you don’t learn very fast to listen to others, to be accepting and empathetic, to multi-task, to be resilient and persistent, life just becomes frustrating and unmanageable.  For someone not used to this part of the world, it can be much tougher to be successful than climbing the corporate ladder.

The truth is, taking a career break is more likely to give you exposure to the real world, and an understanding of real world challenges as well as the broader community; much more so than when one is ensconced in the corporate world.  When these women (and the occasional man) return to the workforce, they are generally more efficient, better collaborators and have a greater ability to get to the real issues and understand what is really important.  The skills they have gained while away from the office should be valued for what they are – indispensible assets.

So those looking at CVs with career breaks worked into them should not be thinking: “Oh, you might have lost your edge” and but rather “Great, this is someone with a much broader perspective”.

Coffee count: 181

PS For those interested in my personal progress, I am delighted to report at that the 176 coffees mark I was appointed to my first board role – moving from Board Observer to Non-Executive Director.

Morphing executive to non-executive

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espresso2The CV.  One has to have one and it is meant to show your skills and experience.  Having had an executive career for 25 years, it’s pretty hard not to have a CV that reads like an executive CV.  But to present as a credible non-executive director, one has to show how the executive experience translates to being of value in a non-executive way.  In the first twelve months of looking for non-exec roles, I think I revised my CV four or five times (maybe more), following advice to reflect more metrics, bring out my commercial acumen, emphasise skills, limit it to two pages… But it still reads like an executive CV because it reflects an executive career.

Of the five meetings I’ve had this week, one was with a head hunter, who after talking to me said she understood much more about me than my CV represented.  Clearly my CV is not doing its job!  With some of her comments in mind, I am now working on making the CV one page and rather than talking about where I have been, will try to have it reflect what I have done that will have relevance to boards. Seemingly the same thing as I was doing before; but perhaps the titles of the executive roles create a perception that the words that follow don’t necessarily dispel.  Turning my CV on its head is going to be a challenge, perhaps a bit like turning myself inside out. But a different perspective will be a good thing.  After all, that is part of the value of a good NED.

Coffee count: 135